“I just realized, you named a giant, flat eldritch monstrosity Matt?” Summers asked. “Because. . . he’s a mat?”

“It boosted morale,” Elias answered. He was doing something with the node that Summers couldn’t wrap his head around.

“It’s a monster made of people.”

“Technically we’re the same.”

“Your sense of humor is shit.”

It had taken them weeks of screwing with the obsidian world’s node. Much of which Summers had spent on his ass and keeping the peace, but eventually Elias had figured out how to get it to do what they wanted. That is, he figured out how to swap planets. Elias mumbled as he worked with a what Summers thought might have been a kidney with a screwdriver jammed into it. It was, apparently, Elias’ way of ‘interfacing’ with the machine.

Summers, meanwhile, watched the skeletal creatures they’d come to call ‘sentries’ meander around the room. Elias and Leah had assured them their anchor altered how these things, shutting off whatever sensors they used to ‘see’, including touch, but it was still a little unnerving.

“These things are safe now, right? They can’t see us?”

“Yes, busy!”

As Summers watched, one of the creatures began to move directly towards him, the tubes that led into the wall beside it scraping with its every step. Summers carefully stepped out of its path, just to be safe. He didn’t feel the need to test Elias’ work.

“He thinks we’re ready,” Elias stated.

“You sure?”

“If not, we’ll all die spectacularly. But as sure as we can be. Regardless this is only going to work once.”

“Once? Why?” Summers glanced at the machine, covered in black tendons and other various. . . component. Much of the samr’s original team had been ‘dismantled’ to create a stronger connection to this node. Which was terrifying, but Summers wasn’t about to complain.

Elias gestured vaguely towards the other side of t he room.

“That ‘core’ you saw, it’s going to be unstable after we use this. It likely wasn’t meant to be used twice, after the original jump, the inhabitants probably thought they’d be safe.”

“Inhabitants-” Summers glanced at a few of the shambling skeletons. “What happened to these guys anyway? They just built this thing and died?”

“Apparently, they wanted to go to heaven. Something like an ideal universe. Unsure if they were mad, or simply misguided. Killed off most of their population when the device cooked the planet, remnants that survived underground probably died soon after. A simple mistake, we corrected it.” He shrugged. “Either way, it’s our gain.”

“Right. . .” Summers paused. “So, what does an unstable core mean?”

“You know what the term supernova means, correct?”

“Yes.”

“That. Doubt there will be a planet left when we’re done. Should have plenty of time to evacuate, however.”

Summers looked again at the creatures, those things going up in smoke was probably for the best, really.

“We should go prepare,” Elias said, “come.”

Elias gestured, and a portal to the town on the surface opened. Summers paused, he still wasn’t used to how quickly Elias and Leah had gotten used to Asle’s power, but he recovered after a moment.

Stepping through, he was immediately greeted by Bard and Viggo near a small graveyard they’d built. It was less of what Summers was used to, and more like a memorial of sorts. Piles of weapons, clothes, and trinkets were arranged around a large obsidian rock that jutted from the ground. He recognized the spot the twins kneeled beside; it was Orvar’s rifle, tied off with a bit of the man’s clothing.

Bard was the first to notice Elias and Summers’ arrival, a small smile showing on his face before he got it under control. He was looking better, Leah had taken time out to give him some treatment with the help of the hamr, just to ensure he wouldn’t have any long-term issues after their fight.

“Ah, Commander, the evacuation’s moving well.” He gestured to the memorial. “We wanted to visit before everyone leaves.”

Summers nodded.

“I get it.”

They’d built a few structures in their time on the obsidian world, the graveyard among them. Obviously, they wouldn’t be able to really bring it along, but the elves didn’t seem to mind. According to them, the fact it was built at all was all that mattered.

Something occurred to Summers, and he glanced down at the twin’s hands. They had several small cuts across their palm. In the scramble after his absence, and the chaos afterwards, he must have missed Orvar’s ‘funeral’, among many others.

They must have noticed his gaze.

“It’s fine Commander,” Bard glanced to his brother. “He’ll be with us.”

“I know. Thanks, I’m glad someone was there. I think he’d have liked that.”

Orvar had single-handedly saved Asle. If he hadn’t done what he did, they’d all probably be dead right now. Hell, if anything had gone differently, they’d never be here.

Summers considered, then dug into his pocket, finding the few pieces of silver he’d gotten into the habit of keeping on him since his time in the city. Not that he ever really needed money anymore, it was more habitual at this point. He placed the coin on Orvar’s gun, and the twins looking at him questioningly.

“It’s a tradition from my world. Just, lets the dead know that you’re thinking about them.”

The twins smiled, not bothering to hide it.

Summers was surprised but returned it.

“Thanks for everything guys. Really.”

“Commander. . .” The two bowed in unison.

Elias didn’t pay attention to the scene, moving past the group and towards the town. Summers nodded goodbye to the two before following along.

“Yes, yes. You’re very scary. I don’t care, keep moving.” Ayra was staring up at a much larger, much angrier elf as Summers approached.

The large man looked at Ayra, the three men dressed in green behind her, and then finally Summers. His eyes widened a fraction seeing Summers. That was all the consideration he gave before stiffly turning and heading towards the small gathering of elves at the center of the town.

Summers knew he was being used as a boogeyman by Synel, but that was a bit much. Then again, he’d done some crazy shit over the last few months.

Summers disregarded the thought, waving Ayra over.

“What was that about?”

“Having a hard time explaining to folks that this planet’s to be eaten by a god. Mostly, they don’t want to move again. Since someone-” she gave Summers a pointed look, “has been sending them ‘round in circles.”

“They’re welcome to stay, but apparently the planets going to blow up.” Summers hooked a thumb over to Elias.

“Not blow up, more like, fall into a fiery hellstorm.” Elias answered. “Semantics.”

“Wonderful.” Ayra gave them a particularly flat look.

Pat saw the group gesturing to Summers.

“Commander, we’re almost finished. Thankfully, the old base is still intact, so we won’t have to rebuild the larger structures.”

“Seriously?” Summers said. “I think I blew up at least a good third of it.”

“Yes, however. . . Matteus has been a large help in rebuilding.”

“That thing can build?”

“In a way.” Pat said, a hollow, haunted tone to his voice. “The buildings are mostly being held together with. . . bone. They thankfully didn’t leave any of the hamr around I’m told.”

“Uh, right. . . Good work?”

“Thank you, Commander.”

Summers watched as many of the elves began to form up into lines, ready for when the portals back to the base would open.

“Any ideas what we can do afterwards? War’s technically over, assuming the samr don’t stab us in the back.”

Elias straightened.

“I am right here you know.”

“And?”

He didn’t respond.

“Actually, I was thinking we could send caravans north.” Pat said. “We lost a lot of villages during the attack on my city, I think some fresh blood would be welcome. Once we have the everyone settled here, we can scout a safer path for a more permanent settlement.”

“Hmm, that actually does sound like a solid idea. Helps that we’re bringing along a small army.”

“I think it will do a lot to endear my father to the newcomers. Bandits and the like are probably an issue in the wake of the fight.”

Summers couldn’t help but smile.

“Pat, I don’t think I tell you this enough, but you’re a way better leader than me. You got big picture stuff down.”

Pat made an alarmed noise, then coughed to cover it.

“Uh, thank you, Commander. That. . . means a great deal to me.”

Ayra smiled at Pat, nudging him in the side. He smiled back only to catch himself a second later. Summers considered the two, apparently, they’d gotten closer when he wasn’t paying attention. Good for them.

A portal opened in the distance, Summers waved the two off and moved to find Asle. She was working with Leah and a massive black tendril at least six times her size to move the anchor back into the elves’ world.

Elias went to fill Leah in on their work. Summers took the opportunity to ruffle Asle’s hair, much to the girl’s annoyance.

As she glared up at him, he couldn’t help but notice that her new eye was an oddly good match for her. Though it was a slightly different shade of blue than her original, more swamp water than the sky blue he’d become used to seeing.

“How you holding up?” Summers asked.

“I’m fine,” Asle responded.

“She’s being worked half to death,” Roan said from a few feet away. “Don’t know how much you’re paying her but it’s not enough.”

“You’re getting paid?” Summers asked.

Asle just glared up at him. She really did look like she needed a nap.

After he managed to pry a promise out of Asle that she’d take things a bit slower once they’d finished, they followed the anchor into the other world. It was night here, and looking at the sky above, he could see the spot of pure dark hanging over their heads. It was very, very dark now.

He didn’t even need to count anymore. There were hardly any stars left in the sky, which was probably causing riots somewhere out there. But thankfully, they were ready now. Assuming all this worked.

Asle stared up at the blank sky alongside him, until Roan poked at her head. She slapped his hand, having to hide a smile just as fast. Summers had to do his best to school his face as well. Even with the literal end times upon them, people were still in high spirits.

Synel approached from behind, grabbing his shoulder.

“I take it there were no issues then?”

“According to Elias, no,” Summers responded, “but we’ll see. We do still have time.”

Synel glanced up.

“If we weren’t so preoccupied, I might be tempted to drink myself into a coma.”

“Right there with you,” Summers answered. “But - we have things to do. Speaking of-”

Leah was heading towards them, looking at the Anchor with an intense consideration. Summers paused, a sudden realization making his body tense. If there was going to be a knife in the back, it would be here. For her part, Leah smiled at Summers, looking down at Asle.

“Elias has told me we’re ready,” Leah turned to Summers. “I assume you’ll be keeping to your word?”

“Pretty sure we’ve done exactly that. You?”

“Of course,” she looked up at the sky. “We’ll act tonight, see that your people are ready.”

“We’ll be ready.”

Leah nodded, moving off towards Elias. Only then did Summers noticed just how tightly Synel was holding him.

“Suppose we won’t be fighting, then,” Synel said.

“Pick up on that too?”

“I picked up on in a week ago,” she glared at Leah as she left. “I’ve been spreading rumors about Asle being able to really throw that thing into the sun.”

Asle nodded in confirmation.

“. . .Why did nobody tell me?” Summers asked.

“Because your job is to maintain relations with them, and you’re a terrible liar. If we told you, they’d be expecting a betrayal.”

“. . .Anything else I should know about?”

Synel folded her arms.

“That woman likes you.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Summers glanced back at Leah, then to Synel.

She looked at him, eyes narrowed.

“Dear, I love you, sincerely. But you have the guile of a toddler.”

Summers exhaled, subterfuge aside, at least he had people he could depend on.

“. . .Glad I’ve got you, then.”

“. . .As you should be.”

Summers really had to work then to repress his smile. Asle and Roan were the only ones around, aside from the samr’s people. After another moment of consideration, he kissed the woman at his side. She blushed almost immediately.

That was probably incredibly inappropriate by elf standards, but she didn’t complain, so Summers counted it as a win.

“Come on, let’s get ready. Day’s not over yet.”

They stood in a chamber very near the core of the obsidian world. It was even more massive this close. Portals had allowed them to transverse the distance quickly, but they’d still needed to make several jumps to ‘acclimate’ to the changes on Leah’s recommendation. Summers had no idea if that was because of altitude, but he didn’t argue.

Elias and Leah were quietly speaking near a console of sorts, while Synel, Roan, and Asle stood beside him. According to them, the anchor still required Asle’s input for any major actions, which mean she’d need to be present to give that. Summers wasn’t going to leave her alone with the two samr, no matter how sure he was they wouldn’t stab him in the back.

Synel had come along, suspecting there was more at play here than what Elias was alluding to. She was peppering the other man with questions every so often. Ready to give Summers a signal if she thought something was off. But, so far, that hadn’t amounted to anything.

Roan had insisted on coming as well, making a point of keeping himself between Asle and Leah, as if shielding her with his body. Given he was basically acid to these people, that was probably a pretty good deterrent. Thinking about it now, their excursion down here was the last time he’d seen the boy leave her side.

A pop resounded around them, and the room began to slowly hum as Elias worked. Pat had finished the evacuation before they’d left, meaning they were ready to pull the metaphorical trigger on their plan. All they were waiting on now, was for Elias to get things prepared. A few minutes later, and various lights in the room intensified.

“It’s ready,” Elias called over.

Synel considered him, then nodded to Summers. That was their signal for, ‘screw it, lets go along with it.’

“Ms. Asle,” Elias said, “I’ll need you here.” He gestured to the same kidney bean he’d been groping for the last hour.

Asle didn’t hesitate, moving to the indicated spot and pressing her hand into the odd machine.

“Just focus on channeling your power,” Elias instructed. “Don’t think of a destination, I’ll handle the specifics.”

Summers watched as the lights in the room flickered, one of the sentries falling on its face as an odd humming noise began, then intensified around him.

That noise grew by the second, a vibration that built into an overpowering scream that shook the room around them. He saw Asle grit her teeth, eyes wide. Nearby, one of the sentries fired off one of their odd blasts in a completely random direction, slamming into a metal wall before collapsing into itself entirely. He turned towards the core in front of them, it spun, firing off flares into the antennas around it at an impossible rate.

The room violently shuddered as a massive chunk of earth in the distance disappeared, revealing a night sky. That was a slice of the planet, and it was just gone.

“Elias?!” Summers called over.

Elias made a panicked noise, redoubling whatever effort he was making.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. The vibrations slowed until nothing was left, and the remaining sentries around them collapsed into heaps.

Elias let out a genuinely maniacal laugh.

“It worked,” Leah offered.

Asle fell to her knees, panting. Whatever she’d done had taken a lot of out her, obviously.

Summers moved to grab her, eyeing the chunk of the planet that had been torn out. There were no longer stars out there, simply darkness. They’d really done it.

The core was still spinning, getting noticeably larger by the second.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“We’ll still need to move slowly. We should have several hours before containment of the core becomes an issue.” Elias moved to the center of the room, gesturing for the others. Summers helped Asle up, she was tired, but not dead on her feet.

“It’s okay,” Asle said. “I can-” she raised her hand, clearly trying to make a portal. Nothing happened.

“Asle?” Summers said.

“She’s tired, it’s fine,” Leah offered. “I can-” Leah raised her hand as well, but no portal appeared. He saw clear worry on her face. She extended her hand several more times.

“Leah?” Summers asked. He turned to Elias. “What’s happening?”

Elias glanced at Leah, then at the core.

“He told you that the device would only work once? Apparently, he underestimated just how much of a toll that would take on its systems.”

Synel let out a strangled noise before turning to Leah.

“Explain.”

The woman glanced at her hand, then turned to them.

“. . .We’re trapped.”